'my beach' at Camotes

(dated Feb 5, 2008)
Been searching for white sand beaches for the whole morning but it was nowhere to be seen. Started having doubt about what they said about Camotes – islands with unexploited white sand and beaches, so BS!!! There was only rocky coast with miles and miles of mangroves and local huts built of palm leaves surrounded by wild orchid (Seriously! There was orchid everywhere, it just grew like that, no greenhouse needed!) Yet, I still needed my white sand beach. It was 32 degree and the only, vaguely civilized place was this tiny little internet joint by the ferry dock. Decided to use my last resource – Googled ‘camotes white sand beach’ to continued my quest of white sand & beaches. So an hour of moped ride later through the corn fields and mangroves, I arrived at my ‘unexploited and white sand beach’ –natural palm trees, shallow water, and a small chapel at afar. So surreal. There was nobody, let alone tourists, just a few fishing canoes, and some local kids playing with ‘hairy crabs’. Had this adventurous excitement running through my blood, felt like I was Hernando de Magellanes, with the thrill of discovering new land for the first time. It’s really the ultimate getaway place. 2 hours of jeepney + 2 hours of refugee-like boat ferry + 1 hour of moped, it is all worth it.

p.s. To keep ‘my beach’ intact as it is, my travel buddy N and I agreed not to disclose the name of the place. Sure, call me a dork ☺